Forget Me Not
by Selphiebunny
Summary: Nightmare Before Christmas spin off, SasuNaru style. AU, slash.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: If I owned them, would they _really_ be ninjas and not personal sex slaves? Pffft.  
**Warning**: Yaoi, cursing, death, and a little bit of OOC but not much.  
**Pairing**: SasuNaru, others later.  
**Summary**: AU Naruto is a failed experiment searching for a heart. He meets Sasuke, a boy who is desperately trying to save Halloween, and himself.

o-o-o

**Forget Me Not  
**Prologue

o-o-o

Everything was _so_ dark...-

He was...

Dying?

Or maybe something different?

He could see light. Bright and vibrant when he opened his eyes, and smiled. But there was no light, when he looked around. Why? It was so beautiful. His jaw tightened when he tried to cry, and feeling the immediate ache in his limbs, panic coursed through his body.

"I am..."

"You are my experiment, young child, and a success! How do you feel... you're only missing one thing, that is."

The boy turned his head, wincing at the sight befalling his eyes. A man was talking to him, softly, but condescendingly he could tell, and as he turned around, he gasped at what he saw. Scars marring the dark shadow's bluish skin, littering arms and legs alike. His eyes were cold, his jaw seemed almost too big for him. Long black hair cascaded down his back, held back only by a headband. Muttering to himself, the shrouded figure swept around the room, tinkering with various things at his disposal. The boy vaguely recognized a pair of sharp things in his hands.

"I will call you Uzumaki Naruto. Do you like that name, experiment? I think it quite fits you."

Experiment? Na... Naruto? His name sounded strange on his tongue, his eyes burning, but no tears fell and he couldn't understand why. "Who am I?" he questioned softly, but it was lost in the loud clanking noises the man was making. Looking down probed a gasp from his oddly cold lips. His arms were stitched in places where bone met bone... like he was a rag doll of sorts.

Naruto quickly glanced down, his arms and legs tied to a cold sheet of metal, and he shivered. "What's happened to me?"

Finally, the man spared him a few words, meeting his eyes with a type of smoldering vengeance.

"Why, you're my creation!" he hollered, as if Naruto should have known already.

Slowly, Naruto eyes widened, mouth trembling with the news. His shaking fingers touched his stitched up lips, realization dawning on him like a match lighting up the dark. "What do I look like... how, how is this _possible_? Where am I? Who are _you_?"

His questions left the man smiling, but it hadn't reached his eyes, which Naruto later found out, always had the same cruel gleam in them.

"Well, to answer your first question... here," he handed Naruto a chipped up mirror, and the boy took it, hands quaking with fright.

He nearly let out a shriek at his reflection, the strange burning sensation back behind his eyes as he gazed upon himself, shock marking his dreadful features rather than disgust. There was so many of those damn _stitches_ that he almost screamed again, biting him freezing lips to stop it. His hair seemed to be the only normal thing on his head, its bright color an ironic acceptance he had to deal with. His thoughts were interrupted when the doctor spoke again.

"Before I tell you how it's possible, let's start with the basics, shall we?" the man chucked as he approached Naruto. "My name is Orochimaru, and you're in Hallows' Eve. A fitting setting, I think for you."

Nodding, Naruto sucked in a breath. "Will you release me...?"

Loud laughter filled his ears, cold and menacing. He winced, arms twitching from his constant shivers. Why was he so damn _cold_?

"All in good time, _dear_ boy. But where would someone like you go? You see I have big plans for you. My first experiment. How interesting." Two fingers traveled up his shoulder, clutching at his chin with mock tenderness. "You know, all you need now is a heart. Won't that be grand?"

Despite himself, Naruto bit out, "Lovely."

That hand that once provided warmth dug into his skin painfully now, long nails clawing at him. When Naruto fought off another terrified whimper, he looked back up into the other man's face. A smile curled his thin lips, but it wasn't to be taken as happiness, Naruto knew.

"Now now, child. You shouldn't disobey your master. This time, I'll let you off. But if this occurs often, well, we won't think about that, will we?"

It was then on, that Naruto came to know the man as a snake, and every time he touched him, the boy would violently shiver, and the burn behind his eyes would start, leaving him begging for sleep for hours.

The cold never left him.

-

As the years flew by, Naruto became sadder and sadder. He realized that not having a heart ruined quite a few things for him, and his _master_ Orochimaru was so vile and cruel, that he could hardly stand to be around the man. He was used like a slave and kept hidden when there were visitors. He found he barely smiled, the stitches almost getting painful. Whenever he asked Orochimaru about his construction, the snake would go on crazed ramblings, which usually ended up with Naruto cowering in a corner, feeling empty inside as usual.

It wasn't a life he wanted to continue living.

One day, the psychotic doctor took him into town, which frightened him just as much as Orochimaru's office. It seemed the place was in a constant state of darkness, and the trees never grew. Nothing did. It was dead-like, ghosts floating about like it was the most normal thing in the world, and graves the distorted people simply walked over.No one smiled, no one laughed.To Naruto, normal it was.

This... this was his home.

But on that fateful day, he met someone who changed his entire outlook. A boy just as sad and empty as he was. Orochimaru kept him close, smiling that haunty smile as he strolled around the town square. A man dressed in black held a megaphone. Naruto heard his deep, hoarse voice. It didn't sound very happy, but then again, the shadow wasn't pleased. Surprisingly, Orochimaru approached the figure, glancing at him every few seconds.

"Ah Sasuke, still trying I see?"

Orochimaru received a glare in return while the raven haired man returned to his work, shouting out something about Hell-o-een. Naruto rolled the word around on his tongue, finally pronouncing it as Halloween.

Orochimaru shot the boy known as Sasuke a pitying glance, continuing his walk. Naruto chanced another look at the boy, only to find those dark eyes glued to him. Naruto couldn't even smile, as he was yanked along. When they returned home, Orochimaru expected to be thanked in full for his kindness, in a way that terrified Naruto more than anything.

_Sasuke_.

The name would never be lost in Naruto's mind.

-

Naruto realized, once, that he would never age. In the span of an hour, it seemed five years had past, without Naruto changing one bit. He couldn't cry, his smile had faded, and emotion besides fear or the occasional shock was dead to him.

The bright side, however, was that Orochimaru had quickly lost interest in him, saying he had become useless and was too unfeeling. Orochimaru had began working on another project, one he said that wouldn't disappoint him so.

Though Naruto never saw him again, forbidden from the outside world, Naruto often wondered what had become of Sasuke, who was desperately trying to convey some sort of message. He never asked, though.

Tonight, there would be changes. Needed - to be changed. He wanted, so bad, oh God, to _feel_ something. Love? He'd only heard about it once, one of Orochimaru's old _lovers_. But that was all.

Putting on his only smile he knew, he cautiously carried a tray of food to the mad doctor, who was working diligently on his latest experiment. Naruto noticed a head but no neck, parts of a body. His stomach quivered, but he willed it away.

Orochimaru studied him as he wiped his brow, suspiciously.

"Hungry doctor?" Naruto whispered, something mysterious bubbling up inside him.

Carefully, the man picked up a cup of coffee, eyeing it. "Would you like some, Naruto?" he asked sweetly, holding the cup for Naruto's inspection.

Shock registered as Naruto's shaking fingers took it. "I.. I'm not thirsty."

Orochimaru grinned to himself. "No, no you wouldn't be. Insolent boy."

His hand reeled back and smacked the blond, sending him to the floor while he sipped his tea, silent. "One thing you can prepare decent, I must... sa... sa - "

Naruto's eyes watered, a scream lodged in his throat at the red tears that _finally_ escaped after so long. Only two slid down, staining his scarred cheeks.

Ragged, hoarse coughs erupted from Orochimaru's throat, hands instantly going up to kneed and soothe, but nothing consoled it. Loud hacks, his neck felt as if it was twisting off, itching and so -

He started for Naruto, who flew out of the way, shrieking when the doctor's foot caught on a chipped tile, and his body crashed to the floor, his choked breathing ceased for the moment.

Naruto did the only thing he could think of, and ran.

-

TBC?...

**Author's Notes: **'Twas just an idea. As I was planning The NBC scenes in Kingdom Hearts II, I drew a SasuNaru pic of Jack and Sally. And thus, this was born. It gets darker, believe me.

And Sasuke is not modeled after Jack. There is no Christmas involved in this story... but a different plot. Naruto had Sally's background for a reason. f anyone likes it, pleeeaaase review for me. Feed the starving author. :3


	2. The Boy Who Sold the World

**Disclaimer**: If I owned them, would they _really_ be ninjas and not personal sex slaves? Pffft.  
**Warning**: Yaoi, cursing, death, and a little bit of OOC but not much.  
**Pairing**: SasuNaru, others later.

o-o-o  
**  
Forget Me Not  
**The Boy Who Sold the World

o-o-o

Naruto ran as fast as he could, chest heaving with every small motion. It felt like dust was in his mouth, dirty and oh so dry. He had lungs, but they only worked on certain occasions, and weren't used to strenuous activity considering he had been isolated. Shrouded in darkness, everything looked the same to Naruto's eyes. Viciously unfamiliar and frightening.

So he ran, and every tree he passed didn't look anymore different than the last, perhaps only slightly more discouraging. Two large black gates were in front of him too soon, and he had only seen them once. He had no idea what to do, hands soothing out his disheveled blond curls.

Thus, he didn't notice a bitter looking boy leaning against the fence, troubled expression sketched deep into his finely chiseled featured face. A grunt, and Naruto finally looked up, stitches around his eyes stretching enough for them to widen, small drops of blood leaking from the corners.

Uchiha Sasuke.

Naruto would _never_ forget that name.

He really couldn't place why, but he felt something, deep inside, that tingled. Because on the day they had laid eyes on each other, Sasuke looked just as defeated and helpless as he had.

Slowly, he worked the soreness out of his throat, and began to speak. "You're - I remember you..."

"Do you?" Was Sasuke quick, nonchalant reply. "Why?" he questioned softly, coming out of the shadows to stand in the moon light.

Naruto hid a gasp, blinking, even if it hurt. This _man_, he was so beautiful. Sharp lines that made up his face, deep, onyx eyes, penetrating and just a hint cruel, though not like Orochimaru's. His hair was as dark as the night, wisping around his cheeks. Naruto couldn't feel the wind, but he could tell his skin was chilled because of its blueish tint.

He shook his head, and the motion made something in his neck crack, a scream spilling from his throat. Sasuke made no move to help me, but something in his demeanor changed, softened.

When Naruto could find his voice, he blushed and looked away, rubbing around his collar bone gently. "I remember you in the square, when... when _he_ took me. I remembered your eyes."

"That was five... six years ago?"

"I, I know."

A comfortable, if not awkward silence reigned, until Sasuke moved closer, and stared Naruto down, heavy sigh falling from his lips like water.

"Where is Orochimaru?"

The word burned in the frosty air, poisonous, and Naruto couldn't help but flinch.

"I left," the blond, whispered, teeth clenching, eyes screwing shut like he was in a bad dream.

"How?"

"You have a lot of questions."

"I've never met a puppet of his before."

That sentence nearly ruined Naruto, shook him to the core. If he had the will, he would have lashed out, but he just _couldn't_, not to this man, who in his own way, was showing his kindness by giving Naruto a fragment of his time. No one had ever spoken to him in such a disarming manner.

Sasuke seemed to stop, his bitter sneer melting away. "So where are you planning to go?"

More questions.

"I don't know."

"Graveyard."

"Eh?" Naruto finally met Sasuke gaze, confused.

Sasuke lifted one pale hand and pointed behind him, almost smiling before he thought better of it. "The graveyard. It's where I live. Were you planning on taking your chances there?"

"I guess." Naruto shrugged.

"Come on."

Sasuke's fingers only slightly brushed his, but the contact was enough to lighten Naruto's nonexistent heart considerably. As they walked, he even dared to grin, but only a little. The stitches tightened around his lips when he did, an uncomfortable feeling he never appreciated. Orochimaru had made sure he would hurt, even in his slim moments of compressed joy.

"Where are we going?"

"To the Nobodies."

"And that is?"

"What we call ourselves."

"You all live together?"

"Where else is there? What with corrupted townspeople, ghosts and vicious ghouls, and Orochimaru roaming around, the Hallows Eve has become too dangerous."

"So... you live in the graveyard?" Naruto muttered, glancing around at all the grave markers, pumpkin shaped objects and coffins.

"More or less."

They approached a tree and stopped. Sasuke scanned it quickly, tapping the wood with his knuckles before kicking the middle open to reveal more surrounding darkness. He turned back to Naruto, who shook his head violently despite the pain, and tugged the experiment in coldly.

Naruto shrieked as he fell down the smoothed out hole, thin shabby nails clawing at the sides. It only made him scream harder as his nails chipped off, one by one until he got the hint.

After what seemed like hours, he fell out and right into something soft, squishy even - and MOVING!

"Aiiieeee!!"

"Oh, god, my eye!"

Another body jerked out and fell on him, adding another scream from the person under him.

The pile of limbs shook, until all three bodies got untangled enough for Naruto to tell he had something of a bright ink stuffed in his mouth. He took a guess, and decided it was hair. Which, indeed, it was. Haruno Sakura's, to be exact.

"Hey, who's this? Sasuke, you don't bring home strays!"

Her tone was teasing, but deep down, Naruto could sense her jealousy. Her big jade eyes held something terrifying, and he knew right then that he didn't want to mess with her. And her hair, such an unnatural pink, though beautiful, was intimidating.

"Shut up Sakura."

Sasuke just pushed past her, giving Naruto time to scan the new surroundings.

Basically, it was like an underground cave. The walls seemed hallowed out, and all the damaged furniture was wooden, horribly made, while a boy with bushy eyebrows stood near another door, small as it was. He stared at Naruto with an almost insane smile. As he was about to say something, another sharp, soft voice cut in.

"Who are you?"

Naruto turned, and blinked hollowly.

Narrowed jade eyes glared at him from across the room.

The being that held them...

He wanted to pass out.

-

TBC...

Like it or hate it?

This fic is pretty hard actually, but if enough people care, I'll try my best on it.

And sorry, not much SasuNaru now... but hopefully it's interesting? See ya.


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